Advancements in communication technologies have permitted the development and deployment of new types of communication systems and communication services. Cellular telephony, and associated communication services available therethrough, are popularly utilized by many, typically providing users with communication mobility and also provides the capability of communications when the use of wireline communication systems would not be practical or possible.
While early-generation, cellular communication systems provided primarily for voice communications and only limited data communication services, newer-generation systems increasingly provide for high-speed data communication services at variable data communication rates. A CDMA2000, cellular communication system that provides for EV-DO services is an exemplary type of new-generation, cellular communication system that provides for high-speed data services. Operational details and protocols defining communications and operational requirements of devices of the system are set forth in an operating standard specification. Various aspects of operation of the CDMA2000 EV-DO communication scheme remain to be standardized and certain parts of the existing standard specification are considered for amendment. Various successor-generation communication schemes are also undergoing standardization and yet others are envisioned to be standardized.
For instance, a revision to the standard specification, release B of the CDMA2000 EV-DO specification standard defines a quick paging channel (QPCH) available upon which to broadcast access-terminal pages by an access network (AN) to an access terminal (AT). The QPCH was adopted in industry contributions 3GPP2 C20-20060323-013R1 and 3GPP2 C20-20060323-003R1 and published in 3GPP2 document C.S0024-B V1.0. Generally, pages are broadcast by the access network to an access terminal to alert the access terminal of a pending communication. And by so alerting the access terminal, the access terminal performs actions to permit the effectuation of the communication. Page indications broadcast upon the quick paging channel are broadcast in a manner that facilitates reduced battery consumption of the access terminal by reducing the battery consumption of the battery of the access terminal. Increased battery longevity is provided, reducing the rate at which a battery of the access terminal must be recharged. The access terminal is, as a result, able to be operated for a greater period of time between rechargings or battery replacement. The aforementioned promulgations provide for broadcast of a message including page indications upon a physical logical layer that is monitored by the access terminal. The access terminal monitors the QPCH prior to monitoring the control channel to receive regular, control channel MAC (medium access control) messages such as page messages. A quick page message is broadcast upon the QPCH.
In one configuration, the quick page message contains quick page indicators. The quick page message includes a number of quick page indicator slots populated with the quick page indicators that indicate whether an access terminal is being paged. An exemplary configuration of a scheme that utilizes page indications is set forth, for instance, in industry contribution 3GPP2 C20-20060731-033. In this configuration, during operation, a mobile station hashes to a quick page indicator location, i.e., slot, within the quick page message based upon a session seed, i.e., a 32-bit pseudorandom number. If the quick page indicator of the quick page indicator slot to which the access terminal hashes indicates that the access terminal is not being paged, the access terminal enters into a sleep state, a reduced-power state, in which the access terminal does not remain powered at a level to receive the regular control channel MAC messages. Power savings is particularly significant in the event that the control channel MAC messages are lengthy and span multiple control channel frames or capsules.
In another configuration, a partial hash comparison scheme is provided. In the disclosed partial hash comparison scheme, the access network forms a quick page message in which a portion of an access terminal identifier (ATI) of an access terminal that is paged is placed in the quick page message. An access terminal that monitors for the delivery of a quick page message, reads the content of the message and compares the values with corresponding values, that is, portions of a hash of the identifier of that access terminal. If the values do not match, then the access terminal enters into a reduced power state, e.g., a sleep state. Contribution C20-20060731-033 shows that partial hashes can also be used in a partial comparison method to improve battery life; a partial hash of an ATI will be more random than an ATI. Contribution C21-20060906-003 and also C21-20060906-004 propose that an AN page an AT on the Quick Paging Channel and regular paging channel, respectively, using a pseudorandom variable called a SessionSeed. Contribution C20-20060731-033 had proposed paging with a hash of an ATI. Partial comparison using a pseudorandom variable will be more random than a hash of an ATI, particularly using the hash function in the 3GPP2 specification C.S0024-B v1.0. Partial comparison using the SessionSeed also provides more random bits than the current hash function in C.S0024-B v1.0. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,072,987 introduces the idea of partial address comparison to improve battery life. Partial address comparison is performed, starting with the LSBs of an address to overcome the problem of an address not being random in all bits.
The QPCH message, as presently-proposed, provides thirty-five page indication locations, i.e., bits available to be populated with paging indicators. The aforementioned “partial hash comparison” scheme utilizes three of the thirty-five page indication locations for identifying the number of pages, and the remaining page indication locations are available for paging, viz., are available. While the proposed, partial hash comparison scheme reduces the false wakeup probability when paging load is relatively low, as the paging load increases, the reduction in the available page indication locations actually increases the possibility of false wakeup. When more than five access terminals are paged, partial hash comparison is not used due to this increased possibility. Instead, hashing to page indication locations is performed. Additionally, 3GPP2 contribution C22-20060825-008 proposes that an AN assign a paging ATI to the AT. But this contribution fails to propose an ATI assignment algorithm for the Access Network.
If a manner could be provided by which to improve the performance of a scheme that utilizes partial comparison pursuant to paging by better reducing the possibility of false wakeup, improved battery longevity of the access terminal would be possible.
It has further been suggested that paging using a SessionSeed is not ideal for the reason that the SessionSeed would be used for too many activities, viz. the variable would be overloaded. If a further manner could be provided that does not require use of the SessionSeed, this problem would be avoided.
It is in light of this background information related to paging by an access network of an access terminal that the significant improvements of the present invention have evolved.